Just Stay by Michelle Abbott
Publication date: May 17th 2014
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
The last place Pia wants to be is on a family vacation in a sleepy Cornish village. She’s anticipating two weeks of mind-numbing boredom. Then she meets Trey, a local boy. He’s absolutely gorgeous. The trouble is — he knows it. He’s arrogant and egotistical, and Pia intends to avoid him at all costs.
But Trey is not the kind of guy who gives up easily. When he sets his sights on Pia, her resistance is futile.
It’s just a holiday romance, some light-hearted fun, right? But one of them is about to discover that still waters do, indeed, run deep. When what lurks beneath the surface finally erupts, the consequences may prove to be catastrophic.
For age 17+ due to sexual content and strong language.
I’m glad the movie is over; I couldn’t focus with Pia being so near, but not being able to touch her.
Pia covers her mouth, and yawns. “Thanks for an awesome evening, Trey. I’m going to bed. I’m
exhausted.”
I follow her to my bedroom, and turn on my bedside lamp. She’s standing by my bed; twirling her
braid around her finger.
“Let me know if you need anything.” Like me.
Fay comes in, and sits down on my bed. “Can I sit here and talk to you while you go to sleep, Pia? I’m
not tired yet,” she says.
Pia nods, so I reluctantly grab a spare blanket and pillow from the top of my closet.
“Sweet dreams,” I say, as I head to the lounge to make up my bed on the sofa. It’s comfortable
enough, but I can’t sleep knowing that Pia is in the next room. I want to snuggle up with her. I can’t
get her out of my head. It’s like she’s bewitched me or something. I’ve never felt this way about
a girl before. I throw the blanket off, sit up and rub my hand through my hair. I heard Fay go into
the spare room a little while ago; maybe I can go join Pia. I stop outside my bedroom door, and
listen but I can’t hear anything. I’m about to turn the door handle but I stop myself. If she’s asleep
it could freak her out if she wakes up and finds me in there. I force myself to go back to the lounge.
Luckily I got my ipod out of my room before she went to sleep. I scroll through my song list until I
find ‘New tattoo.’ I smile; this song describes how I feel about Pia right now. Feeling thirsty I head to
the kitchen to get a glass of water. As I fill the glass I hear movement behind me. I turn, and see Pia.
Her hair is loose and messy, and falling around her shoulders. She’s wearing one of my t-shirts, and
my gaze falls down to the hem which ends just above her knees. Damn, she looks hot, and she’s so
fucking tiny.
“Erm...I’m thirsty, I came to get some water,” she says.
I grin at her. “Me too. Can’t you sleep?”
She shakes her head. I fill a glass with water and hand it to her. She nods towards my ipod which I’ve
wedged into the waistband of my sweatpants. “What are you listening to?” I pull my ear buds out
and hook her hair behind her ears. Her hair is so soft and silky; I let it run through my fingers before
lightly brushing my hand against her cheek. I pop my ear buds into her ears.
She smiles. “I like this; I’ve not heard it before.”
I move closer and rest my hand on the small of her back. “It reminds me of you.”
She starts moving to the music. Although I can’t hear it I know the beat of the song. I slip my hands
around her waist, and sway with her. I gaze into her beautiful, brown eyes as my head dips towards
hers.
“My kitchen isn’t a brothel.”
My gaze snaps to the kitchen doorway. My mum stands there with her arms folded, glaring at us.
“Why don’t you shag your whores in your bedroom like you usually do?”
Pia tugs the ear buds from her ears, and hands them to me. Her face is red, and her gaze is glued to
the floor. “I’m sorry,” she mutters.
Mum walks into the kitchen and fills the kettle with water. Pia speeds towards the kitchen door.
“Pia, wait.” She keeps walking, I can’t blame her. I scowl at my mum. “I can’t believe you said that.
Pia isn’t a whore.”
Mum switches on the kettle and puts a teabag into her mug. “They are all whores. You bring them
here, you fuck them, then you leave them.”
I stare down at the floor. She’s right, that’s what I usually do. “Pia’s different. I like her, and you just
upset her.”
Mum scoops out her teabag and spoons sugar into her mug. “She wouldn’t have got upset if you’d
done as I asked and not invited them to stay. I don’t want your whores running around my home
half naked.”
I squeeze my hand into a fist; my nails dig into my palm. I’ve never hit a woman, and I don’t want
to start now. “Pia is not a whore,” I say through gritted teeth. “And you didn’t ask me not to invite
them, you TOLD me I couldn’t. This is my home too you know.”
Mum makes a huffing noise, picks up her mug and walks away. Fuck. I kick the kitchen cabinet, wince
and grab my foot. Dammit, I hope I haven’t broken my toes.
I need to apologise to Pia. I hobble towards my bedroom but stop when I hear Pia’s voice coming
from the spare room.
“...and I almost had sex with him tonight.”
I press my ear against the door, and listen. I hear Pia speak again.
“That was a mistake and so was coming here.”
I swallow the lump in my throat as I continue to listen.
“I don’t mean anything to him; even his mum knows he has a different girl in his bed every week. I
was almost another of his conquests. I was right about him from the beginning, I should have known
better.” I hear her sniff. Have I made her cry? “And he was so obviously hitting on that girl at the
station. He just left her there, pretended he didn’t even know her.”
I close my eyes and draw in a deep breath. I want to tell her she’s wrong. I want to tell her I can’t
stop thinking about her, that I want to be with her. That I haven’t even been with another girl since
I met her. But I can’t because I don’t want her to know I’ve been standing out here listening to their
conversation.
“So I did interrupt something earlier. We can leave,” I hear Fay say. “We can get a train home
tomorrow.”
No. No, please stay. I put my fist against the door, and am about to knock on it when Pia speaks
again. “No. We’ve already paid for our return fare. They won’t let us change the date; we’d have to
pay for new tickets. It’s only a week, I can deal.”
Deal. She’s going to suffer my company. That’s just great.
“Sleep in here with me tonight,” Fay says to her.
I drag myself away from the door and back to the sofa. I bury my head in my pillow. I have to show
her how much she means to me and make it up to her somehow.
Michelle Abbott lives in the UK and hates describing herself in 3rd person.
She's a self-published author who loves to write new adult romance about heroes who begin as the underdog and are protective of their girl.
She's an avid reader of romance, is addicted to coffee and loves wine and chocolate, so yeah, not the most healthy eating and drinking habits :-) She spends way too much time online when she should be writing. She collects teddy bears and occasionally knits a couple of rows on a sweater she started years ago, which she may eventually finish in time to wear for her funeral :-)
She's a self-published author who loves to write new adult romance about heroes who begin as the underdog and are protective of their girl.
She's an avid reader of romance, is addicted to coffee and loves wine and chocolate, so yeah, not the most healthy eating and drinking habits :-) She spends way too much time online when she should be writing. She collects teddy bears and occasionally knits a couple of rows on a sweater she started years ago, which she may eventually finish in time to wear for her funeral :-)
Visit my website: http://www.michelleabbott.com
Visit my blog: http://michelle-abbott.weebly.
Find me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/
Find me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/
Find me on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/
Have you always had a passion for writing?
Yes always. Back when I was a teenager I loved to write poems and I kept a diary. I won a
short story competition organized by my school.
What are your biggest inspirations?
I come up with a basic idea for the characters and plot but once I begin writing, my
characters are my biggest inspiration. The scenes play out like a movie in my head and I
write down what I see and hear.
Do you have a technique in how you choose characters and/or locational settings?
I choose locations that I have some knowledge of. Just Stay is set in a village that I went to
for a vacation.
Do you listen to music while you are creating your masterpieces?
No, I have to work in silence or I get distracted. I listen to music prior to writing a scene and I
create playlists for my books.
What do you do to stay motivated and avoid writer’s block?
I don’t get writer’s block. There are days I don’t feel like writing. When that happens I force
myself to write a couple of sentences and that’s usually all it takes to get me back into the
flow.
How has becoming a published author changed your perspective on life and is it
everything you expected it to be?
I didn’t realise it would be so hard to get noticed or that marketing would take up so much
of my time. That said, I’ve found I enjoy marketing and that skill can be put to use in other
areas of my life.
What are your biggest challenges as an author?
Getting noticed. Once people read my books, the majority like them, the problem is getting
readers to discover them in the first place.
Do you have any pets?
Not anymore. I used to have a cat.
What hobbies do you have outside of reading and writing?
I spend hours reading and writing, which doesn’t leave much time for other hobbies. I do
enjoy travelling and seeing new places.
Where is the most exciting/memorable place you have been in the world?
There are two, the U.S and Greece. I’ve travelled across a large part of the U.S through
Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia and Florida. I love the space, people and the food. I also
adored Greece, the little white washed cottages, dining out under the stars and the laid back
way of life.
